After a weekend in which at least 52 people were shot and seven died in his city, Chicago Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson shouted to the crowd at a Labor Day Rally that they had to defend themselves from President Donald Trump’s intention to clean things up.
On August 22, President Trump signaled he might intervene in Chicago as he had in Washington, D.C., <a href="https://www.fox19.com/2025/08/22/stay-out-our-city-chicago-officials-slam-trumps-threat-target-city-next-crime-crackdown/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">telling</a> reporters, “I think Chicago will be our next. … And then we’ll help with New York.” The following day, The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/08/23/trump-chicago-military-national-guard/">reported</a> that the Pentagon had been planning a military deployment to Chicago for weeks. On August 26, Trump escalated his rhetoric, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/OVoa6OkxLWM">declaring</a>, “Everybody knows Chicago is a hellhole right now.”
Under Johnson, Chicago experienced <a href="https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/chicago-crime-numbers-johnson-releases-2024-stats-touts-citys-progress.amp?utm_source=chatgpt.com">572 homicides</a> in 2024, making it the deadliest U.S. city by total homicides for the 13th consecutive year.
“No federal troops in the city of Chicago,” Johnson yelled to the crowd. “No militarized force in the city of Chicago. We’re going to defend our democracy in the city of Chicago. We’re going to protect the humanity of every single person in the city of Chicago. And we got the baddest freaking labor movement in the city of Chicago, birthed right here.”
Johnson then threatened, “We’re gonna take this fight across America but we gotta defend our home front first.”
He then launched into a paean to the labor movement and DEI rhetoric, yelling:
<blockquote>
The best way we can defend our home front is to make sure that every single worker has a livable wage. That’s why we abolished the sub-minimum wage in Chicago for brown and black women. They get raises on top of their tips. This is the city of Chicago, where we have given paid time off for over a million workers, ten days off, the biggest city in America to ever do it. This is the labor movement, you all, on pace to build more affordable units, a teachers’ contract that protects black women, a teachers’ contract that protects LGBTQ community, the teacher contract that protects immigrants. This is the greatest freaking city in the world. We’re Chi-town.
</blockquote>
“Now look, there are some people that have doubts in the labor movement. There are some people who believe that we don’t have the power to beat authoritarianism. But I’m also a history teacher as well. We have stood up for the interests of workers before and we will do it again, and no matter what comes from the White House, Chicago will always be a labor town. Are you with me, Chicago?” he declared.
After having mentioned he had been a history teacher, he promptly falsified history, saying, “Are you prepared to defend this land, this land that was built by slaves, a land that was built by indigenous people, a land that was built by workers, are you prepared to defend this land? The people, united, will always prevail.”
He turned back to Trump: “I need you all to stand firm, to stand strong if this president decides to continue to break this Constitution, it’s gonna be the labor movement that stitches it back together, the labor movement that brings black folks, white folks, Asians; it brings brown folks together. This is a city that said, ‘Keep hope alive,’ the city that birthed, ‘Yes we can,’ and the city that will defend this country.”
On Tuesday, Trump wrote on <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115134530741891730">Truth Social</a>:
<blockquote>
At least 54 people were shot in Chicago over the weekend, 8 people were killed. The last two weekends were similar. Chicago is the worst and most dangerous city in the World, by far. Pritzker needs help badly, he just doesn’t know it yet. I will solve the crime problem fast, just like I did in DC. Chicago will be safe again, and soon. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! He <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115134772860379495">added</a>, &#8220;CHICAGO IS THE MURDER CAPITAL OF THE WORLD!&#8221;
<iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xgEM6_uu_ww?si=7Cw08hpg4x00jR0a" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></blockquote>

Labor Day Rally And March Held In Chicago

Chicago Mayor Calls On Organized Labor To ‘Defend’ City From Trump

Brandon Johnson

Chicago

Crime

Donald Trump

Illinois

Labor Unions

Politics

Chicago&#8217;s mayor leads protests against President Trump&#8217;s potential crime crackdown as judges block the deportation of illegal immigrants. India cozies up to China and Russia at a summit in Beijing, a major foreign policy challenge for the Trump administration as a federal court strikes down his tariffs. The FDA moves to ban a potent, opioid-like substance called 7-OH that is being sold in gas stations and marketed to kids.
It’s Tuesday, September 2, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
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<h2>Chicago Mayor Fights Trump Crime Crackdown</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-967537" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH1-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH1-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH1-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH1-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH1-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH1.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
Topline: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is leading protests against President Trump&#8217;s potential federal crime crackdown in his city, while Democrat-appointed judges are blocking the administration&#8217;s efforts to deport illegal immigrants.
After President Trump signaled that Chicago would be the next target of a federal crime crackdown similar to the one in Washington, D.C., Mayor Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker have threatened non-cooperation and legal action. Pritzker called a potential deployment of the National Guard an &#8220;invasion,&#8221; and Johnson has preemptively ordered Chicago police not to cooperate with any federal law enforcement. The moves have drawn criticism from some local Democrats who argue the city should be coordinating with the federal government to reduce crime.
Meanwhile, the administration&#8217;s deportation efforts are being stalled in the courts. On Sunday, a Biden-appointed judge blocked the deportation of 76 Guatemalan children. Last week, an Obama-appointed judge halted the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an alleged MS-13 gang member. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted a clip of a recent CBS News interview, noting that the network edited out the serious allegations against Abrego Garcia, including that he is a &#8220;known human smuggler&#8221; and a &#8220;wife beater&#8221; who &#8220;solicited nude photos from minors.&#8221;
<h2>India Tilts Toward China, Russia as Court Strikes Down Trump Tariffs</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-967541" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH2-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH2-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH2-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH2-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH2-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH2.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
Topline: In a major foreign policy challenge for the Trump administration, India’s Prime Minister joined the leaders of China and Russia for a summit in Beijing, signaling a potential realignment as a U.S. federal court struck down many of President Trump’s global tariffs.
This week, Chinese President Xi Jinping is hosting a summit with leaders from across Asia and the Middle East. A rare public display of unity between Xi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is setting off &#8220;alarm bells in Washington.&#8221; The move is seen as a direct response to Trump&#8217;s 50% tariffs on Indian goods and signals that India is willing to work with U.S. adversaries if its relationship with Washington deteriorates.
The summit comes as a federal appeals court dealt a major blow to Trump&#8217;s signature trade policy. On Friday, the court ruled that the president was not justified in using emergency powers to unilaterally impose his global tariffs. Trump responded over the weekend, warning, &#8220;More than 15 Trillion Dollars will be invested in the USA&#8230; If a Radical Left Court is allowed to terminate these Tariffs, almost all of this investment&#8230; will be immediately cancelled!” The ruling allows the tariffs to remain in effect until at least October, giving the Supreme Court time to potentially hear the case.
<h2>FDA Moves to Ban Opioid-Like ‘Kratom’ Product</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-967539" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH3-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH3-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH3-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH3-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH3-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.2.25-Tue-SH3.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
Topline: The FDA is taking emergency action to ban 7-OH, a potent, opioid-like substance derived from the kratom plant that is being sold in gas stations and vape shops and aggressively marketed to children.
The FDA has recommended that 7-OH be classified as a Schedule I controlled substance, which would make it illegal to sell or possess. The agency says the compound is an opioid, up to 13 times more potent than morphine, and carries significant health risks, including addiction and overdose. FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary issued a stark warning that the substance &#8220;may be the fourth wave of the opioid epidemic.&#8221;
The products are sold in forms that are appealing to kids, such as fruit-flavored gummies, vapes, and even ice cream cones, often without clear or accurate labeling. There is currently no federal age restriction on the products. The move to ban the substance comes after a number of anecdotal reports of addiction and death, including a Georgia two-year-old who had to be revived with Narcan after accidentally ingesting a 7-OH product marketed as an &#8220;energy pill.&#8221; Several states, led by Florida and Ohio, are also moving to ban or restrict the substance.

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Morning Brief: Chicago Crime, Beijing Summit, FDA Moves To Ban ‘Kratom’

Communist China

Drugs

Global Politics

Illegal Immigration

India

JB Pritzker

Russia

U.S.

Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez (D-15th Ward) lashed out at Mayor Brandon Johnson (D-Chicago) and Governor JB Pritzker (D-IL) during a recent appearance on NewsNation, saying that their insistence on engaging in a political battle with President Donald Trump over crime was sending a message to the people that the victims did not matter.
Lopez pressed Johnson and Pritzker to instead work with President Trump and get any help he might offer in order to make the streets of Chicago safer for the people who live there.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨NEW: Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez *TORCHES* Mayor Brandon Johnson and Gov J.B. Pritzker for not collaborating with TRUMP to crack down on crime🚨
&#8220;How many victims are we comfortable with? Because that&#8217;s ultimately the subtext of what the mayor and the governor are saying is… <a href="https://t.co/7WzOBG4Akr">pic.twitter.com/7WzOBG4Akr</a>
— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) <a href="https://twitter.com/JasonJournoDC/status/1962536060237255044?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 1, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;We should be working to make sure that we are in coordination with each other,&#8221; Lopez said. &#8220;There&#8217;s nothing stopping the mayor of the city of Chicago, the governor of the state of Illinois, from picking up the phone and reaching out to the President of the United States and saying, &#8216;What can we do to be on the same page?'&#8221;
&#8220;We should all be looking to continuously decrease the number of victims in our city and in our state, and instead we&#8217;re getting into this tit-for-tat social media back and forth nonsense, which is only putting the people of Chicago and the people of Illinois in the middle, in the crosshairs of criminals who are going to use this time to exploit and go crazy as we&#8217;re continuing to see this weekend where we&#8217;ve had multiple mass shootings,&#8221; he continued.
The outlet then showed a graphic recounting the crime stats from Labor Day weekend in Chicago, where there were 31 shootings, seven shooting deaths, 52 people shot, and only three persons of interest identified or arrested.
&#8220;I hear the governor talking about an &#8216;invasion,&#8217; an &#8216;insurrection,&#8217; I hear the mayor writing useless orders against the federal government,&#8221; he added. &#8220;But what no one is talking about is, if our crime stats are decreasing, why can&#8217;t we push with Donald Trump&#8217;s help and decrease them even more? How many victims are we comfortable with? Because that&#8217;s ultimately the subtext of what the mayor and the governor are saying is that we are comfortable with the amount of victims we have right now. We don&#8217;t need to improve on our numbers any further than that.&#8221;
Pritzker, just as Lopez suggested, had touted the progress made in Illinois as recently as Sunday morning during an appearance on CBS News&#8217; &#8220;Face the Nation.&#8221;

DES MOINES – JANUARY 15: Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker speak

Chicago Alderman Blows Up At Mayor, Governor Over ‘Tit-For-Tat’ With Trump Over Crime

Media

The Supreme Court upholds Tennessee’s ban on transgender medical procedures for minors. The 6–3 decision is a landmark victory for parents and conservatives, and a defining blow to transgender activism. The United States continues to fortify the Middle East as Trump ramps up the pressure on Iran to surrender. And, as Trump escalates deportation plans, Democrats make headlines by getting themselves arrested.
It’s Thursday, June 19, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today’s episode here:
 
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<h2>SCOTUS Upholds Gender-Mutilation Ban</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-936581" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_00_21_19.Still001-7.jpeg" alt="" width="640" height="360" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_00_21_19.Still001-7.jpeg 640w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_00_21_19.Still001-7-300x169.jpeg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /></div>
Topline: In a major win for conservative activists and parent groups, the Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a Tennessee law banning transgender drugs and surgeries for children.
In the case of United States v. Skrmetti — the justices decided that Tennessee’s law does not violate the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. The plaintiffs in the case — which included trans-identifying teens and their families — claimed that Tennessee’s law banning puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries for minors discriminated against them on the basis of sex. More than 20 states have bans similar to Tennessee’s.
Chief Justice John Roberts penned the court’s <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-477_2cp3.pdf">opinion</a> and rejected the plaintiffs’ argument. He also said the plaintiffs “contort the meaning of the term ‘medical treatment,&#8217;” writing, “Notably absent from their framing is a key aspect of any medical treatment: the underlying medical concern the treatment is intended to address.”
“The main argument from the other side when we did the oral argument in front of the court was if you have a boy who wants testosterone to resolve a developmental defect, then they can get it,”  Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti told The Daily Wire. “But a girl who wants testosterone to deepen her voice can&#8217;t. The dissenting justices thought that this was some sort of discrimination. But with any medical treatment, you&#8217;re not just handing someone a drug, you&#8217;re giving them a treatment to treat a specific condition. And different drugs have different effects on different conditions. And we differentiate between those purposes all the time. So I thought that was a fatal flaw in the argument on the other side.”
Roberts noted that the number of minors requesting “sex transition treatments” has increased in recent years, and meanwhile, European countries have cracked down on these procedures and drugs. Medical skepticism around these drugs and procedures is only growing – last month, the <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/gender-dysphoria-report-release.html">HHS</a> released a review saying the “science and evidence do not support” the use of these drugs and procedures for children.
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a concurring opinion in which he said, “there is no medical consensus on how best to treat gender dysphoria in children,” and “recent revelations suggest that leading voices in this area have relied on questionable evidence, and have allowed ideology to influence their medical guidance.”
Meanwhile, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote a dissent joined by the two other liberal-leaning justices, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Sotomayor claimed that teens needing transgender drugs “can be a question of life or death.” Advocates of these drugs and surgeries have <a href="https://www.heritage.org/gender/report/puberty-blockers-cross-sex-hormones-and-youth-suicide">pushed</a> a similar line to parents of trans-identifying children for years, even as newer evidence has shown that these treatments do not improve children’s mental health.
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<h2>Iran Says It Will &#8216;Never Surrender&#8217; While Trump Teases Possible Strikes</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-936585" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_01_21_16.Still002-2.jpeg" alt="" width="640" height="360" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_01_21_16.Still002-2.jpeg 640w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_01_21_16.Still002-2-300x169.jpeg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /></div>
Topline:  As the war between Israel and Iran approaches its seventh day, the Ayatollah says his country will never surrender.
On Wednesday, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei let the world know he would never agree to President Donald Trump’s demand for an unconditional surrender. In a video statement, Iran’s theocratic leader said, “Those with wisdom who know Iran, its people and its history, never speak to this nation in the language of threats, because the Iranian nation will not surrender…The United States must know that our people will not surrender, and any military intervention by them will lead to irreparable consequences.” 
That video came a day after President Trump threatened to strike the Ayatollah, and as Israel continues to hammer Iranian nuclear and military facilities. To date, the Israelis have killed 11 of Iran’s 12 highest-ranking military leaders.
The expectation from military experts is that if Trump joins Israel’s offensive, the Iranians would respond by launching missiles at American military installations across the Middle East, particularly those in Iraq, Syria, and Kuwait, which are just across the border. 
“I may do it, I may not do it,” Trump <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1935338837695189018">said</a> at the White House on Wednesday. “Nobody knows what I’m gonna do. I can tell you this, that Iran’s got a lot of trouble. And they wanna negotiate. And I said, &#8216;Why didn’t you negotiate with me before all this death and destruction?'&#8221;
The president also made it clear that whatever course he takes, he intends to avoid a protracted war and is solely focused on preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. In the latest <a href="https://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/trump_administration_second_term/57_favor_u_s_military_action_against_iran_s_nukes">Rasmussen polling</a>, 57% of Americans support American strikes to destroy Iran’s nuclear program, compared to just 30% who oppose them. But 69% of Americans say that even if they support airstrikes against Iran, they prefer the two sides negotiate an agreement.
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<h2>Immigration Pushback Continues As Trump Admin Sticks To Its Guns</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-936587" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_02_17_10.Still003.jpeg" alt="" width="640" height="360" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_02_17_10.Still003.jpeg 640w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_02_17_10.Still003-300x169.jpeg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /></div>
Topline:  Blue cities are in rebellion against Trump’s immigration agenda. Protests and riots threaten immigration officers, while Democratic officials openly challenge the federal government.
Most of the pushback against immigration enforcement is in major cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York. The resistance involves everything from activist coordination to impeding ICE operations and local officials getting in between ICE and local law enforcement. 
Chicago has suspended an online portal for illegal aliens to apply for IDs. The CityKeys program was shut down after ICE subpoenaed its records. The Chicago city clerk then shut it down and told the <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/06/14/ice-subpoena-chicago-city-clerk-online-municipal-id/">Chicago Tribune,</a> “We’re going to fight giving over any data to the federal government.” Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson has been adamant that Chicago would “take to the streets” if it had to resist Trump. 
Comments like that haven’t stopped Trump from targeting these cities.
“Biden allowed 21 million people to come into our country,” Trump <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1934638998640537748">said</a> earlier this week. “Vast numbers of those people were murderers, killers, people from gangs, people from jails. They emptied their jails out into the US. Most of those people are in the cities, all blue cities, all Democrat-run cities, and they think they&#8217;re going to use them to vote. It&#8217;s not going to happen.” 
Local law enforcement is also cracking down on anti-ICE riots  – a bevy of new charges were announced Tuesday from state and federal officials. U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli and Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman outlined dozens of counts from curfew violations to assault of law enforcement. Hochman said that his district attorney’s office has charged at least 30 people. The U.S. attorney has brought an additional 20 counts. 
Lawmakers on both sides have condemned violence, but Democrats also seem to court their own run-ins with law enforcement. Earlier this month, New Jersey Congresswoman LaMonica McIver was charged after chaos erupted at an ICE detention center in Newark. More recently, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who is a candidate for mayor, was arrested outside an immigration court on Tuesday. Police say he was impeding law enforcement. Then last week, Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) had to be forcefully removed from a Homeland Security press conference in Los Angeles.

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Morning Brief: SCOTUS Makes Trans Ruling, Iran Talks Tough, And Dems On Thin ICE

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

California

Children

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Iran

Israel

Los Angeles County

minors

Morning Wire

New York

New York City

Riots

SCOTUS

Supreme Court

Tennessee

transgender surgery

The Trump administration is investigating the City of Chicago after Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson bragged about the number of black people he has hired.
The Justice Department informed Johnson on Monday of the probe just one day after he appeared at a church and suggested that he had staffed his administration based on race. In a <a href="https://www.justice.gov/crt/media/1400811/dl?inline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a>, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon told Johnson that the investigation would examine whether the city violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits racial discrimination in employment.
Dhillon told Johnson the investigation was “based on information suggesting that you have made hiring decisions solely on the basis of race.”
On Sunday, Johnson <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcD_HXIFQW4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appeared</a> at the Apostolic Church of God in Woodlawn and talked about the racial makeup of his administration. He also emphasized hiring “our people.” 
“When we say ‘our people hire our people,’ I just want to name this,” he said, pointing out how the percentage of white people in the mayor&#8217;s office had dramatically decreased during his administration making it &#8220;the most diverse administration in the history of Chicago.”
Johnson&#8217;s office later <a href="https://abc7chicago.com/post/us-department-justice-opens-civil-rights-investigation-chicago-hiring-practices-letter-mayor-brandon-johnson/16472280/">released</a> demographics of staffers in the mayor&#8217;s office, indicating 34.3% are black, 30.5% are white, 23.8% are Hispanic, and 6.7% are Asian. 
He then went on to suggest that black people should be in charge because they would govern for the greater good.  
“There are some detractors that will push back on me and say, ‘The only thing that mayor, the mayor, talks about is the hiring of black people.&#8217; No, what I’m saying is, when you hire our people, we always look out for everybody else,” he said. “We are the most generous people on the planet. I don’t know too many cultures that have play cousins. That’s how generous we are. We just make somebody a family member, right. That’s just how we are.” 
He then went on to list senior positions in his administration staffed by black people. 
&#8220;Business and economic neighborhood development, the deputy mayor is a black woman. The Department of Planning and Development is a black woman. Infrastructure deputy mayor is a black woman. Chief operations officer is a black man. Budget director is a black woman. Senior advisor is a black man. And I&#8217;m laying that out because when you ask, how do we ensure that our people get a chance to grow their business? Having people in my administration that will look out for the interest of everyone — and everyone means you have to look out for the interest of black folks, because that hasn&#8217;t happened.&#8221;
Dhillon said that these comments prompted the question of whether similar racially based hiring decisions were being made systematically throughout the city’s government. 
“Considering these remarks, I have authorized an investigation to determine whether the City of Chicago is engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination as set forth above,” Dhillon said. “If these kind of hiring decisions are being made for top-level positions in your administration, then it begs the question whether such decisions are also being made for lower-level positions.”
Johnson responded to the investigation by saying he was proud to lead the most “diverse administration in the history of our city.”

National Urban League Conference Plenary II: State of Black America

Trump DOJ Probing Chicago Mayor After He Bragged About Race-Based Hiring

Department of Justice

Harmeet Dhillon

Race

Social Issues

Tom Homan, President-elect Donald Trump&#8217;s incoming border czar, blasted Illinois Democratic leaders during a speech in Chicago this week as Trump draws up plans for mass deportations.
Homan discussed the incoming Trump administration&#8217;s plans during a GOP holiday party in the Windy City on Monday and urged Democrats Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to work with the president-elect, Fox 32 <a href="https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/chicago-deportations-tom-homan-border" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Both Pritzker and Johnson have vowed to fight Trump&#8217;s mass deportation policy.
&#8220;Chicago is in trouble because your mayor sucks and your governor sucks,&#8221; Homan said.
Homan said of Johnson, &#8220;If he doesn’t want to help, get the hell out of the way,&#8221; according to the <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/politics/donald-trump/2024/12/09/border-czar-tom-homan-donald-trump-chicago-pritzker-brandon-johnson-immigration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chicago Sun-Times</a>. Johnson has <a href="https://news.wttw.com/2024/11/12/chicago-will-remain-sanctuary-city-despite-trump-s-threats-mayor-brandon-johnson-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">promised</a> to stand in the way of federal agents apprehending illegal immigrants in Chicago. After the election, the Democratic mayor <a href="https://news.wttw.com/2024/11/12/chicago-will-remain-sanctuary-city-despite-trump-s-threats-mayor-brandon-johnson-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> Trump a &#8220;tyrant&#8221; and said his plans to clamp down on illegal immigrants are &#8220;unconscionable and dangerous.&#8221;
Pritzker has similarly vowed to stand between the federal government and illegal immigrants. The governor shot back following Homan&#8217;s comments and said that Trump&#8217;s border czar &#8220;does not have the authority to do the things that he’s talked about,&#8221; NBC 5 Chicago <a href="https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/chicago-politics/pritzker-pushes-back-on-trump-border-czars-promises-of-mass-deportations/3622500/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
“Being a border czar is not an official position in the government,” the governor said. Pritzker added that he&#8217;s &#8220;open to dialogue&#8221; with Homan.
Following Trump&#8217;s election victory last month, Pritzker said that the federal government would have to go through him to deport illegal immigrants in Illinois.
“To anyone who intends to come take away the freedom and opportunity and dignity of Illinoisans, I would remind you that a happy warrior is still a warrior,” he said. “You come for my people. You come through me.”
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift-guide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE</a>
Multiple Chicago residents slammed Mayor Johnson and other Chicago officials over the sanctuary city policies during a recent city council meeting, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/chicago-residents-slam-stupidity-mayor-brandon-johnsons-liberal-policies-during-city-council-meeting" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
&#8220;Mayor Brandon Johnson, you took an oath to uphold the Constitution. Or when you took an oath, was it only intended to fight for the 10th and 14th amendments regarding illegal aliens?&#8221; asked Zoe Leigh.
&#8220;We don&#8217;t want illegals in our community. We don&#8217;t want migrants terrorizing our own people and to have y&#8217;all sit up here and say we have to accept 7 million dollars being given to them when you have black people already struggling and need help,&#8221; added Chicago resident O. King. &#8220;It is a disgrace.&#8221;
Earlier this week, Homan <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tom-homan-explains-how-democrats-protecting-illegal-aliens-in-sanctuary-cities-states-will-backfire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">warned</a> sanctuary cities like Chicago about releasing illegal immigrants back onto the street after they commit a crime.
&#8220;If you let us in the jail, we can arrest the bad guy in the jail, in the safety and security of the jail. One officer could do that. But when you release the public safety threat back in the community, you put the community at risk,” he said. &#8220;You put my officers at risk. You put the alien at risk, because here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to release that guy in the community, I’m going to send an entire team to go look for the guy in your community.&#8221;

Tom Homan

Tom Homan Says ‘Chicago Is In Trouble’: ‘Your Mayor Sucks And Your Governor Sucks’

Tom Homan Says 'Chicago Is In Trouble': 'Your Mayor Sucks And Your Governor Sucks'

Deportations

Immigration

The past year has been marred with an ever-present sense of sadness and grieving for Jews worldwide. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/october-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">October 7</a> was our September 11; a day where every Jew can tell you exactly where they were when they heard the horrific news of what occurred to our people in Israel on that day.
Tragically, this sadness and grieving have been coupled with a level of disappointment and abandonment that we never could have anticipated. Disappointment over the lies being spread so quickly about our people. Disappointment over the sheer lack of empathy being shown for the victims. Abandonment by neighbors who seemed to stand up and bolster any other cause that came their way. Abandonment by local leaders who took part in rallies against us.
The first anniversary of the horrors of October 7 recently arrived, bringing to the forefront of our minds just how many of our lives were altered irreparably on that day.
And then the unthinkable happened. This past Saturday I faced my own personal experience of terror and fear when <a href="https://x.com/KassyAkiva/status/1850911640482451926" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a shooter appeared</a> on my street — the street where my children play — with the intention of murdering a Jew. The shooter targeted a family friend of ours who was walking to Saturday morning prayers at our synagogue. He was cruelly shot from behind without warning.
My role on that day was one of bystander and witness. Helpless to stop the horrific act that was being committed right outside my door.
As I rested in bed reading, I heard a loud popping noise; my baby was soundly asleep in the room next door. Only after I heard the screams of the victim did I realize that the noise I was hearing was gunshots.
I looked out the window and saw the shooter running. A thin brown man with thick shiny black hair.
I quickly reached for my phone and dialed 911; an act that felt foreign and surreal.
My neighbors and I were lulled into a false sense of security when the police arrived. Their presence gave us all a sigh of relief as dog walkers reemerged and women walked by pushing their strollers. But fifteen minutes later the shooter reappeared, this time firing at the police.
After the second round of shots, I looked out my window and saw a neighbor hiding behind a tree with his dog. There was a break in the shooting so I opened my front door to offer him refuge inside my home. He jumped when he looked at me and said he was fine. He quickly ran away and I closed my door and returned to the window. I then saw the shooter creep out of my driveway, stand on my neighbor’s lawn and shoot towards my neighbor and his dog.
In that moment, I realized this wasn&#8217;t a typical gang-related crime or a robbery gone wrong. This was terrorism in my front yard. I grabbed a kitchen knife and barricaded myself in my sleeping baby&#8217;s room. I moved furniture, called my parents, and pleaded with the police for help.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
A Jewish man walking to synagogue was shot in Chicago on Saturday. 
Malka shared her security camera footage with The Daily Wire, which captured the shooter screaming &quot;Allahu Akbar&quot; and shooting at first responders when he returned to the scene 20 minutes later. <a href="https://t.co/qhD11WMA1b">pic.twitter.com/qhD11WMA1b</a>
&mdash; Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) <a href="https://twitter.com/KassyAkiva/status/1850911640482451926?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 28, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Had he seen my giant Israeli/American flag? Would I be able to hide my baby so he would think I&#8217;m alone?
After a few minutes, a neighbor called and told me that the police had <a href="https://x.com/KassyAkiva/status/1850955903442251993" target="_blank" rel="noopener">neutralized the shooter</a> and it was safe to come out.
I spent hours that day talking to the police and showing them videos, even though it was the Sabbath when I do not normally use technology.
When replaying the video with my husband after the Sabbath we heard the chilling war cry of “Allahu Akbar” shouted by the terrorist during his confrontation with the police. If we had been questioning the fact that this was a hate crime before, our question was clearly answered with this footage.
A visibly Jewish man was targeted in a Jewish neighborhood while walking to synagogue on a Saturday morning. The fact that this was a hate crime seemed absolutely clear. We started to send the video clip out to our friends and it spread like wildfire. Soon, news reporters were knocking on my door asking permission to play the video. I was hopeful that showing this video would help the Chicago community understand what happened. Hours were spent talking to reporters and signing consent forms. It felt empowering to be able to contribute and help in some way. The victim needed privacy to recover, but what I needed was to feel like the pain of this past weekend was being acknowledged by the public.
As the days passed, we were shocked by the Mayor of Chicago’s slow, tepid response to this violent act of anti-Semitism. When charges were brought by the DA’s office we were stunned to learn that the shooter was not being charged with a hate crime. It was framed as just another shooting — an all-too-common occurrence in Chicago. To add salt to the wound, the FBI initially withheld his immigration status and place of residence for no apparent reason.
The media coverage of this event brought on the next wave of shock and disappointment. There was no mention of the shooter’s words of “Allahu Akbar” and completely avoided using the words “hate crime” or “anti-Semitism.”
When I reached out to the news editor to question why the video I provided was edited to remove the shooter’s words, I was told that showing that part of the clip was “inflammatory.” Rather than giving viewers and the public an unbiased report of what had occurred outside my front door, the media was concerned about being “inflammatory.” 
What news outlets such as the Chicago Tribune did not seem to find inflammatory was <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/10/26/police-man-23-critically-injured-in-far-north-side-shootout-with-officers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the headline</a> “Police: Man, 22, critically injured in Far North Side shootout with cops.” Presenting the shooter as some kind of potential victim of a police shooting; leaving it up to the reader’s imagination to decipher what may have occurred. This was yet another sickening distortion of the truth by the media, in a year filled with endlessly misleading headlines against Israel and the Jewish nation.
All my efforts to speak to the press and give them the truth have been in vain. The Daily Wire is the only news source that published our video in its entirety. The media is fabricating a world completely divorced from the truth because reality interferes with what they wish to believe is true.
Mayor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/brandon-johnson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brandon Johnson</a> appears <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/chicago-mayor-condemns-shooting-of-jewish-man-but-omits-religious-identity-drawing-ire/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">incapable</a> of holding space for the pain <a href="https://x.com/EVKontorovich/status/1851609897823068283?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1851609897823068283%7Ctwgr%5Efa6704ce04b19c01fbe5556ed55b48473f0602d2%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailywire.com%2Fnews%2Fgunman-who-shot-jewish-man-walking-to-synagogue-is-reportedly-an-illegal-alien" target="_blank" rel="noopener">we have faced</a> this year with unrelenting anti-Semitism rising at frightening rates across the U.S. The media refuse to report the truth because it would bring to light that some Muslims truly believe in intifada, and the realities of intifada are much uglier than woke college kids can imagine as they chant, &#8220;Globalize the intifada.&#8221;
I don&#8217;t see myself ever trusting mainstream media again. If their job is to report on the truth they have utterly failed. I call on my fellow Chicagoans to expect better from our elected officials and the FBI. We need to elect leaders who care about Chicagoans of all races, ethnicities, and religions.
The Chicago Jewish community will continue to grapple with our collective sadness and grieving during this year of heartbreak. We are not victims but fighters and survivors, as history has repeatedly shown. We will continue to join together and confront the anti-Semitism we are surrounded by and offer each other love and support. We will continue giving back to our greater community in positive ways, like we always have. And maybe one day, we won’t need to do it alone.
* * *
M. Reich is an engineer by degree and stay-at-home mom by trade. She is a proud Jewish American who lives in Chicago.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
* * *
<h3><a href="https://www.amiracist.com/?_gl=1*jtghwp*_gcl_au*ODQ1NjYzNTg2LjE3Mjg5MDk3OTE.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczMDEyMDgwOS40OS4xLjE3MzAxMjA4MzkuMzAuMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MATT WALSH&#8217;S &#8216;AM I RACIST?&#8217; NOW STREAMING ON DAILYWIRE+</a></h3>

MixCollage-01-Nov-2024-09-41-AM-5393

Terrorism In My Front Yard

Anti-Semitism

Jewish

Legacy Media

Muslims

Opinion

Shooting

Chicago Democratic Mayor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/brandon-johnson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brandon Johnson</a> lashed out at Republicans on Monday as far-Left protesters disrupted the Democratic National Convention, tearing down portions of the fencing around the perimeter of the convention center. 
When asked about the breach caused by pro-Palestinian protesters through the DNC perimeter outside the United Center, Johnson <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/presidential/3126692/chicago-denies-operational-security-failure-dnc-protest/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the Washington Examiner there was no security failure and instead went after Republicans. 
“Protecting the First Amendment right. That’s what we’ve done. We’ve done that,” he said. “Here’s what the failure is: an extreme Republican Party that doesn’t believe in democracy, an extreme Republican Party that attacked this country, an extreme Republican Party with Gov. Abbott attacking the city of Chicago.”
Johnson was seeming to reference the large number of illegal immigrants who have been bussed into Chicago by Texas. 
“That’s what’s extreme,” Johnson added. “That’s what the failure is, but what you’re experiencing right now, you’re experiencing the hopes and aspirations of the people of this country.”
Many of the protesters flew Palestinian flags and wore keffiyehs as they attempted to breach the fences. 
Chicago Police <a href="https://x.com/CPD_Media/status/1825668692522446927/photo/1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Monday night that the situation was contained and that attendees security was never jeopardized. 
“Demonstrators breached a portion of anti-scale fencing along the National Convention’s outer perimeter near the United Center on August 19. Law enforcement personnel were immediately on-scene and contained the situation,” the police said in a statement reads. “At no point was the inner perimeter breached, and there was no threat to any protectees.”
<h4><a href="http://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH THE TRAILER FOR ‘AM I RACIST?’ — A MATT WALSH COMEDY ON DEI</a></h4>
At least 100,000 protesters were upset over the Biden administration’s handling of Israel’s war with Hamas. 
City leaders said that the would be ready for the protests and would start arresting people if violence broke out. 
​​“We want people to exercise their First Amendment rights. We will protect them while they’re doing it. But we will not guarantee someone that we’re not going to make arrests if they act violently or start to commit crimes,&#8221; said CPD Superintendent Larry Snelling. 
Johnson said the city would be  “ready for this moment” and that the city would &#8220;safe and peaceful and vibrant and energetic,” Johnson said. 
The Democratic Party has been rocked by infighting over Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, with many not happy with either President Joe Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris.

March On The DNC

Chicago Dem Mayor Lashes Out At Republicans After Far-Left Protesters Disrupt DNC

Democratic National Convention

After Chicago Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson blamed former President Richard Nixon following 19 murders being committed in Chicago over the July 4 weekend, the Richard Nixon Foundation harshly criticized him. One hundred nine people were reportedly injured in the shootings.
“The spree spanned 74 separate incidents, including a horrific family slaying that saw an 8-year-old boy killed along with two relatives, while two other boys, aged 5 and 7, were injured in the same shooting,” The Daily Mail <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13617833/Chicago-shooting-Richard-Nixon-mayor-brandon-johnson.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a>.
“Black death has been, unfortunately, accepted in this country for a very long time,” Johnson declared at a news conference. “We had a chance 60 years ago to get at the root causes, and people mocked President [Lyndon] Johnson. And we ended up with Richard Nixon.”
“Mayor Johnson’s reference to President Nixon is gratuitous and the facts are not on his side in his characterization of Richard Nixon and the Nixon administration’s civil rights record,&#8221; the Nixon Foundation stated on X, adding a litany of Nixon’s decisions to help the black community:
<blockquote>
In 1971, the Nixon administration developed a plan to carry out the 1954 SCOTUS decision in Brown v. Board of Education to desegregate all schools in the South. In 1969, 64% of Southern Schools were segregated. By 1974, 8% were segregated. Done effectively and peacefully. From 1969 to 1972, federal funding for civil rights programs grew from $75 million to more than $600 million, the equivalent of more than $3.4 billion today. Nixon initiated the Emergency School Aid Act with $1.5 million to help end school segregation and pay for the promotion of interracial experiences among children where racial isolation existed.
Nixon issued an executive order calling on federal government agencies to apply equal-opportunity policies to every aspect of federal personnel policies and practices. Nixon allocated $12 million for research on sickle-cell anemia, a blood disorder that afflicts one out of every 500 black children, with the hope of decreasing that number. From 1969 to 1971, the government’s federal purchases from black-owned businesses increased more than 900 percent, from $13 million to $142 million. In 1969, Nixon issued an executive order creating an Office of Minority Business Enterprise in the Commerce Department. Nixon mandated that federal contractors had to comply with equal employment-opportunity laws. This “Philadelphia Plan,” led to the dismantling of institutionalized racism in labor unions. The Nixon administration was the first to institute plans to increase jobs for minorities in the construction industry. From 1969 to 1973, federal aid to predominantly black colleges and universities more than doubled.
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Mayor Johnson’s reference to President Nixon is gratuitous and the facts are not on his side in his characterization of Richard Nixon and the Nixon administration’s civil rights record. 
Here are the facts: 🧵 <a href="https://t.co/bWBx5v7DJd">https://t.co/bWBx5v7DJd</a>
&mdash; Richard Nixon Foundation (@nixonfoundation) <a href="https://twitter.com/nixonfoundation/status/1810500320734421235?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 9, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&nbsp;
“Richard Nixon was a champion of civil rights as Vice President and as President,” Jim Byron, the president and CEO of the Richard Nixon Foundation, fired back in a statement to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dem-mayor-blasted-ridiculously-blaming-deceased-gop-president-deadly-july-4-gun-violence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News</a>. “The record is clear. Unfortunately there are many misconceptions about Richard Nixon, but perceptions of years ago are now being reconsidered as we see renewed interest in studying and understanding his life and legacy in full. As of now, our correction of the record is racing toward one million views on X alone.&#8221;
“What is happening in Chicago is heartbreaking, and I imagine the people of Chicago want leaders who take responsibility and work together to solve problems rather than try and pass the blame, in this case ridiculously and gratuitously,” he continued.

After Bloody July 4 Weekend, Chicago Mayor Blames Nixon. Nixon Foundation Levels Him With Facts.

Murder

Richard Nixon

For all his promise, Barack Obama was a man of few accomplishments before being elected to the highest office in America. But he actually did achieve something when it came to national politics. He brought the Chicago Democratic Machine model into the national arena.
I grew up just north of Cook County, Illinois, in which Chicago is located. For 21 years, from 1955 to 1976, Mayor Richard J. Daley ran his town as a true big city party machine Democrat, complete with patronage and all the other creepy-crawly intrigues to be found when turning over the rocks of municipal politics.
While Daley was a Democrat, he was no ideologue. He was a product of the old school Democrat Party that gave us FDR, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Tip O’Neill, Scoop Jackson, Zell Miller, and even Bill Clinton. Indeed, it was Daley’s Chicago Police who violently cleared out Grant Park anti-war protesters during the height of the 1968 Democrat Convention, for which he was vilified by Sen. Abraham Ribicoff (D-CT) as using “Gestapo tactics.” 
Daley was not a woke, pandering, identity-obsessed modern Democrat. Rather he was a mover, a conductor, a political boss. And the city ran. Under Daley the streets were clean, life was affordable, business boomed, the stunning skyline grew, and crime rarely spilled out onto the Magnificent Mile as it so often does now.
The Chicago Democrat Party is rife with corruption, as extended one-party rule inevitably leads to abuse of power — Chicago has not had a Republican mayor since 1931. The running joke in Chicago is “Vote Democrat, Vote Often.”
<div id="attachment_739271" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-739271" class="size-large wp-image-739271" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1211041403-864x576.jpg" alt="CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - MARCH 07: Inmates at the Cook County Jail check in with election judges before voting in the Illinois primary election after a polling place in the facility was opened for early voting on March 07, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. About 500 to 700 inmates were expected to vote today inside the facility which houses more than 5,000 detainees. The jail is the first in the nation to open a polling place inside to allow inmates to vote. The Illinois primary election will be held on March 17. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1211041403-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1211041403-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1211041403-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1211041403.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Scott Olson/Getty Images</div>
In fact, Daley&#8217;s son Richard M. Daley, served as mayor for 22 years, beating his father&#8217;s previous record by one year. The pathologies that exist in Chicago today, however, are not the result of Daley-esque pragmatist Democrats, but rather ideological zealots. As such, in one generation, the leadership of this once-great city has devolved from the old school Daleys to the hard-Left progressive leadership of Lori Lightfoot and now Brandon Johnson. Anyone with an objective eye can see that the farther Left Chicago has lurched, the more unlivable, expensive, and dangerous it has become. Even my beloved Chicago Bears have had enough and are moving from iconic Soldier Field downtown to Arlington Heights in the suburbs. 
So when then-presidential candidate Barack Obama <a href="https://www.ncregister.com/news/how-barack-obama-fundamentally-transformed-the-united-states">told a crowd</a> in Columbia, Missouri, in October of 2008, &#8220;We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America,&#8221; he meant it. But not in the way envisioned by the starry-eyed Obamanauts who projected upon their narcissistic empty suit of a messiah their own progressive aspirations. Obama doesn’t think that way. Anyone who rises to the top of Cook County politics by definition is about ruthlessly accumulating and maintaining political power as the ultimate goal, not making the world (other than his own) a better place. And as a way to amass national power for himself and the Democrats he still surreptitiously leads, Obama saw what works in Chicago and vowed to install the Cook County model for the Democrat Party machine on a national level.
The Democrat Party Obama created was one that sought to transform the entire country into Chicago. This transformation came to fruition in the 2020 election. I am not saying that the Democrats “stole” that election, but they did cynically exploit the faux concerns over COVID to force upon the nation mass mail-in ballots. In the 2016 election, roughly a quarter of all ballots were cast by mail. The percentage <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2020/11/20/the-voting-experience-in-2020/">jumped to 46%</a> in the 2020 election. This is no coincidence. Nor is it a coincidence that in 2020, even though some <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2020/11/20/the-voting-experience-in-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">67%</a> of Trump voters voted in person either on or before election day, only 41% of Biden voters did the same. To my knowledge, GOP voters weren’t dying of COVID in droves afterwards. 
 
The DNC, which pushed mail-in balloting, knew what this unprecedented (some argue illegal in certain states) revamping of election procedure really meant for them: opportunity. As the Carter-Baker Commission on Federal Election Reform <a href="https://www.bakerinstitute.org/research/carter-baker-commission-16-years-later" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> in 2005, “Absentee ballots remain the largest source of potential voter fraud.” 
So why would a party that howls clarion calls about Trump’s “threat to our sacred democracy” push for this clearly flawed and easily corruptible election process? Because, historically, fraud has worked in their favor. It has in Cook County for decades and has shown to be a valuable tool at the national level as well.
<div id="attachment_739417" style="width: 875px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-739417" class="size-large wp-image-739417" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1204331594-865x576.jpg" alt="Aerial Dramatic View of Downtown Chicago at Sunset - Lake Shore Drive. Aerial_Views. Getty Images." width="865" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1204331594-865x576.jpg 865w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1204331594-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1204331594-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1204331594-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1204331594-2048x1364.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1204331594-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1204331594-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 865px) 100vw, 865px" />Aerial_Views. Getty Images.</div>
A common media mantra is that 2020 saw no “widespread” election fraud. And, technically, they are probably correct. But that didn’t matter, and Obama and his Chicago cronies — including his Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who tellingly ended up mayor of Chicago himself for a spell, and who was eventually succeeded in his White House post by the late Mayor Daley’s son — understood this. When you have three key swing states in which Trump only won by a combined 80,000 votes in 2016, then “widespread” voter fraud is not needed. What is required is targeted fraud. 
There is no doubt that very powerful institutions from Big Government to Big Tech to Big Justice colluded to push their censoring and prosecutorial thumb on the elections scales. It&#8217;s still happening today, as evidenced by Trump’s many court appearances that caused even Left-leaning CNN host Fareed Zakaria to admit they are only taking place because of the accused’s name. As to actual ballot stuffing, harvesting, or illegal voting we will not know for a long time how much it did or did not occur. Nevertheless, millions of Americans sensed something was amiss in 2020, something we Chicagoans shrug off as business as usual. 
Remember, it took decades to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/lbj-stolen-election-box-13-mangan-c818e478ec509c65585d3094bda69f96" target="_blank" rel="noopener">show conclusively</a> that Texas Democrats did, in fact, knowingly falsify votes in LBJ’s successful 1948 run for Senate — with catastrophic consequences for the country later. 
 
Defenders of the overall integrity of mail-in ballots will point to various courts’ refusals to hear over 50 Trump-initiated claims of election fraud as evidence there is nothing to see here. But they will neglect to add that most of these dismissals were on procedural grounds such as standing or laches, and often just touched upon the potential merits which were never allowed to be fully argued before the bench. It’s worth noting that the Supreme Court, in fact, sided with the now-proven fraudsters for LBJ on procedural grounds as well. The courts are not oracles.
A <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/voting-during-covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">survey</a> by New York University’s nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice found that 40 states and the District of Columbia passed laws and changed procedures to expand voting access during the COVID pandemic as well as “substantive changes to their voting systems since the start of the pandemic.” Some eased rules on voting by mail or extended early voting to reduce crowds — to protect them from a virus that apparently only attacks poll lines and biker clubs, while leaving BLM and antifa protestors, or Democratic California governors at swanky Napa restaurants, alone. What makes this concerning is that these loosening standards affected 258 potential electoral votes. And, not surprisingly, 96 more eventually went for Biden than Trump; 47 of these had gone for Trump in 2016. 
This is why Obama’s main project seems to have been, at its core, elevating through mail-in ballots the corrupt Cook County machine to a national level. It&#8217;s all about power. It is not the means to an end, but rather the end itself. And COVID gave them their cover for all the election rule easing and censorship of “disinformation.” As Rahm Emanuel himself stated: “Never let a crisis go to waste.”
Still, this cynical attempt to nationalize what once worked locally in my hometown is fraught with hazard. One-party Chicagoland is a solidly cobalt blue enclave. They think the same way, vote the same way, believe the same way even if it leads to their city’s destruction. As such, they will tolerate corruption with a wink and a nod so long as their party stays in control of City Hall.
The country as a whole, however, is not Cook County. It is evenly divided among blue and red, as the last two elections have shown. There are some 75 million-plus voting Americans who will not just stand idly by with a shrug of the shoulder when the “Chicago Way” is applied nationally again. January 6, as ugly, ludicrous, unnecessary, and misguided as it was, nevertheless offered a chilling portent of what could happen should millions of voters once again feel that the electoral process has been compromised.
Democracy is built entirely on trust in the legitimacy of a voting system. And that trust must be especially strong among the losers. But what if trust is gone? What reason is there to believe in our democracy? What reason is there to obey any laws at all when they are only selectively applied based not on merit but party affiliation? If Americans no longer believe their votes are honestly counted, there is no more democratic foundation to hold up the Republic. Remember, we have elections to settle our differences without killing each other.
What Obama and his Chicago crew are attempting is a fundamental “transformation” of America as promised. And it will fail because, as with so many of the Left’s other misguided attempts to nationalize policies from healthcare to schooling, it is not scalable. Just as what works in tiny countries cannot be imposed on the enormous USA, neither can the political model of one corrupt, collapsing city be applied nationally without severe push-back from millions who will find no humor in the quip that “The dead of Cook County always vote Democrat.” 
One man’s joke is another’s sense of disenfranchisement and disempowerment. And that never ends well.
* * *
Brad Schaeffer is a commodities trader, author, columnist, and musician whose eclectic body of writing can be found in the Wall Street Journal, New York Post, New York Daily News, Daily Wire, National Review, The Hill, The Federalist, Zerohedge, and others. His latest book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Life-Pits-Rough-Tumble-Exchange/dp/B0CKPNCMQW/ref=sr_1_1?crid=FBF37276B680&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.vcOViovcNlulLDwCgSAL69F_A30PW0Mtp0XkDLFpRDI.e73HGuCpMYaPK8os1N9Y87Bb_hElkxrUd2FszkudrUk&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=life+in+the+pits+Schaeffer+book&amp;qid=1705421538&amp;s=books&amp;sprefix=life+in+the+pits+schaeffer+book%2Cstripbooks%2C100&amp;sr=1-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LIFE IN THE PITS: My Time As A Trader On The Rough-And-Tumble Exchange Floors</a> is available on Amazon and soon Audible. 
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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The Chicago Way: How Obama Began Transforming America Into Cook County

Barack Obama

COVID

Democrats

Leftists

Mail-In Voting

Readers Pass

U.S. Politics

Voting

We have now reached the point in American life where in our racially divided society, there is a quick get-out-of-jail-free card, so long as you are a member of an intersectional group.
If you&#8217;ve done something wrong, if you are accused of corruption, or if you are accused of some sort of malfeasance, your get-out-of-jail-free card is, “You&#8217;re attacking me because I&#8217;m black.”
This has significant ramifications for American public life. The simple fact of the matter is that in a meritocracy, we should be able to point out when you are corrupt or when you have failed. If every defense to failure is that the system itself is biased against you, that means failure will continue.
This is true system-wide, everywhere — from politics to administration, from the business world to the educational world. When Claudine Gay gets fired from Harvard University, the basic idea is that it must be a racist system that got her fired. 
There is now no way to hold people accountable if they are from a minority race. If, for example, you&#8217;re a politician and it turns out you&#8217;re deeply corrupt, and your first move is to claim America is racist because that&#8217;s why you&#8217;re being targeted — if that&#8217;s believed — there is no way to get rid of corrupt officials so long as they are of minority status.
Once that standard is created and the basic idea becomes that certain people in our society have a get-out-of-jail-free card and others do not, then all standards collapse because a double standard is no standard at all.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1901-when-in-trouble-cry-racism-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h4>
The latest iteration of this particular foolish, divisive defense comes courtesy of a person named Tiffany Henyard. You might not have heard of Tiffany Henyard, but this is a burgeoning story about a small town mayor in Dolton, Illinois — a town of 20,000 people —  who&#8217;s been alleged to have engaged in significant corruption on a vast scale. 
This story was reported in <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12931847/mayor-tiffany-henyard-dolton-illinois-slammed-salary-expenses.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the UK Daily Mail</a>: 
<blockquote>The first female mayor of a tiny Illinois village slammed her critics at a public meeting after she caused outrage by taking a $300,000 salary. Glamorous Tiffany Henyard was elected leader of Dolton, a village of 20,000, in 2021, but has since come under fire for what many see as her excessive spending. … She regularly engages the services of a professional hair and makeup team and stylist before public appearances and photo shoots for the county&#8217;s taxpayer-funded billboards, which often feature the 40-year-old in what some see as shameless self-promotion.</blockquote>
Henyard has proposed a new law that would cap the next mayor&#8217;s salary at $25,000, unless she herself is the new mayor, a proposal many have deemed illegal.
“The scandal is just the latest to hit the beleaguered mayor, after she was slammed for hiring her former campaign worker as the town&#8217;s code enforcement officer despite the fact he is a convicted child rapist,” the Daily Mail continued.
Now she is now being investigated for all of this. Her defense is a defense that has become the all-purpose defense for an enormous number of people in our post-George Floyd society.
She <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13058511/Tiffany-Henyard-mayor-Dolton-Illinois-corruption.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spoke</a> about her alleged corruption and the reasons why she&#8217;s being targeted, saying, “You all should be ashamed of yourselves because you are all black. You are all black! And you all sitting up here beating and attacking a black woman that&#8217;s in power. You all should be ashamed of yourselves.”
Now again, the basic idea here is that even if a black person is asking this particular mayor about her corruption, it must be because they&#8217;re a race traitor of some sort.
If basic standards of meritocracy and decency are to be put aside in favor of claims that any critique is rooted in race, that means there can&#8217;t be any meritocracy anymore — which, of course, is the basic idea that social justice can only be established by getting rid of baseline standards of competency.
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We see this across the board in the United States in a wide variety of places. Mayor Brandon Johnson of Chicago was questioned over his handling of the huge migrant crisis that has hit the city of Chicago, along with the crime crisis, along with the issues of economic problems in the city. His answer was, I&#8217;m a black man with a black wife and black kids. How dare you attack me?
This mentality is horrifyingly bad for the country. What does the race of his wife and his children have to do with anything? The reasoning is: You can&#8217;t critique me because I am citing my race.
He&#8217;s following in the footsteps of Lori Lightfoot, who was recently ousted as mayor of Chicago after one short term because she was a terrible mayor. But she also happened to be a black lesbian. She claimed that she had been ousted, not because she was terrible at her job, but because she was black. When asked after the election if she lost because of her race in a city like Chicago, which is heavily minority, she said, “I&#8217;m a black woman in America.”
In 2023, Lightfoot said in an interview with <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-political-scene/lori-lightfoot-makes-her-case-to-chicago?_sp=f46b50f6-2ff9-490d-87df-820a50fb74b1.1707424977366" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the New Yorker</a> prior to the election, “And, look, also, I am a Black woman — let’s not forget … Certain folks, frankly, don’t support us in leadership roles. … The same forces that didn&#8217;t want Harold Washington to succeed, they&#8217;re still here.”
She was referring to Chicago’s first black mayor.
This sort of excuse-making is a way of lowering standards of performance for everyone.
Again, we see it across the board. Fani Willis, who&#8217;s the D.A. currently going after Donald Trump in Georgia, has spoken of how racism was behind all the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fani-willis-goes-to-church-tells-congregation-shes-being-targeted-for-skin-color" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accusations</a> targeting her.
The answer to every question about impropriety is now race in America. So long as you are able to play that card — and it&#8217;s a dangerous card to play — it undermines standards of stability, decency, and performance in literally every industry.

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The Racial Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free Card. It’s Only Going To Lead To More Failure.

Ben Shapiro

Blacks

Claudine Gay

Fani Willis

Racism

Chicago Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson told reporters he agrees with the city’s Board of Education that police officers should be removed from the city’s high schools.
The Chicago Police Department has a $10.3 million contract with the city’s board of education, but the Board wants to terminate it. Johnson told the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ this week that he will give the go-ahead for the police to be removed. “Nearly all the board of education members who approved last year’s $10.3 million school resource office contract have been replaced by Johnson appointees,” <a href="https://www.wbez.org/stories/chicago-board-of-education-is-considering-removing-cops-from-schools/809ab8f6-14b6-4a62-8594-d533ebe41f08" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WBEZ</a> noted.
“The Board of Education is moving in the direction that I do support,” Johnson <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/education/2024/1/30/24056400/cps-johnson-ok-pulling-officers-out-schools-he-tells-chicago-sun-times" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a>. “There is an intergovernmental agreement between Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Police Department. To end that agreement, there’s no qualms from me there.” The Sun-Times said Chicago Public School officials informed high school principals last month that police officers would not be present next fall.
As a mayoral candidate, Johnson opposed officers being on school grounds, but after he was inaugurated as mayor, he <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/chicago-mayor-supports-removing-police-from-schools?intcmp=tw_fnc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reversed his position</a>, asserting that the decision to remove officers should be made by local school councils. But now he has reversed himself again.
In 2020, as the George Floyd protests surged, the Chicago Teachers’ Union urged the schools to rid themselves of the police, <a href="https://www.ctulocal1.org/posts/noon-tues-6-23-cps-students-teachers-parents-to-cps-we-demand-a-safe-and-equitable-reopening-of-schools/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stating</a>, “These students along with the parents, teachers and staff that support them have looked at the data, experienced the brutality and are calling for police-free schools. Members of the CPS community are calling on the $33 million contract between CPS and CPD to be better used for restorative justice coordinators, social workers, nurses, trauma supports and other critical programs in schools.&#8221;
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Reports surfaced that last month, the Chicago Board of Education was attempting to remove Local School Councils — comprised of parents, teachers, and students — of the authority to decide to have school resource officers (SROs) present on their campuses. Reports indicate that this summer, the Chicago Board of Education will vote on whether the contract with the CPD will be renewed.

Brandon Johnson Is Sworn In As The 57th Mayor Of Chicago

Chicago Mayor Supports Removing Police From High Schools

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